Wagers on Munetaka Murakami for Rookie of the Year make sense, even if White Sox continue to flounder

LAS VEGAS — Blame it on the ChiSox.

That might be my excuse, should this sportsbook-app-funding experiment wind up pear-shaped.

At noon on April Fools’ Day, of all days, I settled into utter repose, scribing duties fulfilled, to watch baseball the rest of the day.

That’s when an announcer rousted me. Already, he said from some game, the White Sox were 1-5 after a 10-0 defeat in Miami, with a horrible -31 run differential.

My coconut whirred. I scanned several phone apps — none of which I’ve ever dumped a dollar into, for old-school reasons I’ve documented — to gauge the going price on the Sox finishing with the game’s fewest victories.

BetMGM had +600, or risk $100 to win $600.

I zipped west down Tropicana, parking across the street from the MGM Grand in an apartment lot behind the Oyo hotel and casino, the area’s lone free spots.

I half-hoped I’d be able make that wager at the MGM Grand sportsbook. No dice. The BetMGM app, a manager informed me, has menus produced in New Jersey independent of the MGM Grand’s book.

So I had to fund my BetMGM cell account, which I had created years ago to monitor odds. I did so painlessly, with a friendly dude who roams the MGM Grand to assist such customers.

At 2 p.m., I gave a teller cash and punched in my Sox wager at +600, which was welcome-boosted to +750.

Two hours later in a phone interview for another column, Westgate SuperBook executive consultant Jay Kornegay told me he had made that same +600 bet a few weeks earlier.

BetMGM’s figures hadn’t budged, even with a week of evidence.

Value, defined.

Top passer

I wasn’t finished, for BetMGM also dangled 80-1 Heisman Trophy odds on Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker.

Thirty-to-1 had been the going rate on the 6-4, 210-pound native of Austin, Texas, who led college football with 4,379 passing yards (34 touchdowns, nine picks) last season at North Texas.

Mestemaker and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr are the game’s lone returnees who averaged an NCAA-best 9.4 yards per toss, near the double-digit figure that makes NFL scouts salivate.

He followed coach Eric Morris, and other assistants and players, to Stillwater. Those 80-1 odds represented exceptional value, so I poked it into my BetMGM app.

After I submitted it, the employee who had assisted me made his own Mestemaker wager. And 10 minutes after having chatted with Kornegay, he bet on Mestemaker, too.

Pigskin additions

This is a key window to tap college pigskin value, as we did here last week with John Mateer of Oklahoma, with two months before the game’s annuals are published. Punters must excavate and rate their own information.

I’m bullish on squads that beat the spread, which includes Virginia (.622 ATS last season) and Ole Miss (.615 ATS).

I grabbed long-shot title tickets on Oklahoma State (500-1) and Virginia (200-1), just in case, and 40-1 on Ole Miss, where quarterback Trinidad Chambliss will play this season.

Plus, I snagged 10-1 on LSU — because it’s imperative to have Lane Kiffin in the portfolio.

Bleeps ’n’ giggles

Back to baseball.

I had coat-tailed Southern California handicapper Tommy Lorenzo early, betting the Nationals under 69½ wins, which was whittled to 64½ within two weeks at other shops.

From the front office to the field, the Nats are greenhorns, so I also grabbed +500 odds on them to finish with the least amount of wins.

Then that announcer detailed the woebegone Sox. This is a franchise that has recorded three consecutive triple-digit-defeat seasons and continues slipping down that slope.

Four in a row would pit the Sox a season behind the pathetic 1938-42 Phillies, bearers of the all-time streak of five 100-loss campaigns in a row.

The next day, I wore a black Marlins cap (bearing a white logo), as a nod to their gritty 2025 season, to the William Hill shop at the M Resort to survey more value.

The Marlins topped the National League East, so I snagged 30-1 division-winning odds on it, 100-1 for a Fish-Phils 1-2 divisional finish.

I bought the Brewers at +275 to win the NL Central, since they’ve won three in a row. Plus, they led baseball in wins a year ago, so I got 40-1 that they’d repeat that feat.

For further bleeps and giggles, I took World Series fliers on Brewers over Yankees (100-1) and Yankees over Brewers (125-1).

Murakami insurance

I did invest in new Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami, the southpaw who smacked 56 dingers for Yakult four years ago in Japan, to win American League Rookie of the Year at +600 odds.

A 26-year-old “rookie” who played eight seasons with more than 3,500 career at-bats and six different seasons with at least 28 homers in Japan? More stellar value.

After the team’s disastrous start, however, the Sox swept the injury-riddled Blue Jays. As I file this, the Sox had seven defeats. Three teams had eight; one of those, the Giants, matched the Sox’ -27 run differential.

Should the ChiSox ultimately avoid baseball’s basement, I would wager that it will be because of Murakami’s slugging.

The insurance policy was wise, not even requiring an app.